One of the oldest GAU ship classes in service, the versatile Guillemot-class light warship is the workhouse of the Avian fleet.

Characteristics

Following AdmiralAckbar's bird-based design aesthetics, these ships take after their namesake, the Guillemot. Just like a guillemot, the warships have short, compact bodies, and long, narrow wings. On these wings, a large portion of the ship's weapons are located. At the end of the wings, the inner parts slants inward towards the engine housing, and out from the wingtips project extra thrusters. The ship is also capable of planetary landings when necessary, and further inspired by the Guillemot bird, its landing legs are set far back on the hull, near the engine housing. The landing "feet" are broad and similar to a guillemot's feet, spreading the weight very well. When landing, its front end is supported by a strong repulsorlift cushion. Located underneath the "chin" of the warship is a well-protected hangar facing down and backwards, allowing easy launch of garrisoned fighters but making attack very difficult for enemies. Normally, the Guillemots carry at least 2 squadrons of B7 Sparrowhawk-class starfighters to defend it from bombers, since it possesses no anti-fighter weapons.

Armament

At first glance, the Guillemot-class light warship is a poor combat ship. Its armament consists of only 10 double turbolasers, a heavy composite-beam laser dish, and 4 HPTT's. However, it also sports 36 Heavy plasma torpedo tubes, with 12 torpedoes to a tube. The Plasma torpedoes are designed to take down shields very quickly, though they can damage ships' hulls to a lesser extent. The composite-laser beam has a long attack range and is quite potent.
These weapons allow the Guillemot to act as a missile cruiser, bombarding enemy positions with its torpedoes and laser beam from long range. Its few short-range weapons and inadequate armor make it vulnerable to larger ships and bombers, though for the latter, the ship carries two squadrons of Interceptor Sparrowhawks for protection.

Despite all its flaws, the Guillemot remains a key part of Ackbar's fleets due to its versatility and usefulness in battle.